Hand-press



UNITED STATES Patented January 5, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

HAND-PRESS.-

SPEGIFIGATION forming' part of Letters Patent N o. 748,947, dated January 5, 1904. Application iiled January 12, 1903. Serial No. 138.669. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J ULIUs F. HELMoLD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Oook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hand-Presses, of which the following is a specication.

The object of the present invention is to provide a simple and compact but powerful press adapted to be operated by hand for working sheet metal generally, but more particularly for bending sheet-metal strips for various purposes. For example, in the manufacture of boxes of pasteboard, strawboard, and the like the stock iscut or scored or both out and scored by means of blades of appropriate shape. These blades are made of strips of sheet-steel of appropriate width sharpened at one edge and bent to the desired shape, and these blades are secured in a suitable machine by which the cutting and scoring are done.

The present invention relates to a press which may be used for bending these blades to the desired shapes and which may also be used for bending sheet metal for a great variety of other purposes, the change necessary for adapting it for any desired purpose being .the substitution of one pair' of dies for another. One of these dies is stationary, while the other is carried by one end of a reciprocable plunger, the other end of which is connected by a link with the short arm of a handlever. The coperating dies are of course male and female and their working faces may., within the scope of the invention, be of any desired design or pattern. They areremovable without the use of a wrench or other tool, and each machine may be provided with any desired number of pairs of any desired design or pattern. I desire to have it under stood, therefore, that in its broadest aspect the present invention is not concerned with the design or pattern of the dies, but rather with the construction of the machine for operating them and the means for holding them in place.

In order that the invention rmay be fully understood, I will describe it with reference to the accompanying drawings,` which are made a part hereof, and in which- Figure l is a side elevation of a press embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof. `llig. 3 is a detail view of the gage.

A representsa horizontal baseplate having at each end a leg a, terminatingin a foot a', perforated for the passage of screws by which it may be secured to a bench or table. Rising from the base-plate are two lugs B, perforated for the passage of the fulcrumpin c of the hand-lever C. Rising from the base-plate are also two lugs D,the inner faces of which are parallel. The base-plate, its legs and feet, and the several lugs are preferably cast integrally of steel or iron and are made sufciently strong to withstand heavy strains.

The inner faces of the lugs D and also the top of the base-plate between them are milled to form (in connection with the cross-plates E) a guideway for a reciprocable plunger F. The cross-plates E bear upon the tops of the lugs D and are held in place by screws passing through them' and into threaded openings in the lugs D. They serve to con tine the plunger against lateral movement vertically.

One end of the plunger is bifurcated toV provide lugs f, perforated for the passage of a pin g, by which it is jointed to one end of a link G, the other end of which is jointed to the shorter arm c of the hand-lever C at a point near a straight .line drawn from the fnlcrumc to the pin g, so that the link and shorter arm of the lever act as a toggle as the' dies are about to complete their movement toward each other, or, in other Words, at the point of maximum strain the poi-nt of connection between the link G and the short arm c' of the lever is practically in the line aforesaid. The plunger has at its other end a vertical dovetail groove adapted to receive a corresponding rib h on one end of a die H, having a vertical working face, the arrangement being such that the die is sustained vertically by contact with the base-plate A, which at this point forms a horizontal slide upon which the die rests and slides as the plunger works back and forth and also forms 'a support for the work. The other die I,

which also has a vertical working face, has a similar dovetail rib t, which is received within a vertical dovetail groove in a post J, rising from the base-plate A. For insuring accuracy in the construction and locationy of this post it is preferably made separate from the base-plate, but integral with its own base-iiange or foot j, which occupies a milled recess in the base-plate A and is there secured by screws. Its rear side is preferably semicircular and of less radius than that of the smallest circle to which it is desired to bend any piece of work. For instance, in Fig. 2 I have shown dies adapted to bend a strip into a ring or circular form. The die I has a working face which is struck from a circle and is of equal radius with the outer or curved surface of the post J, while the working face of die H has a concavity complementary to the working face of the die I. It will of course be understood that in order to bend a strip of metal into a ring,or circle, orshort tube by means of these dies more than one operation of the dies is necessary. To do so, the end of the strip is first placed between the working faces of the dies and the die H advanced. The result is that a segment of the circle is bent. The strip is then fed forward or advanced between the dies and the die H again advanced. This produces another segment of the circle. These operations are repeated until the circle is completed. The circle may not be perfect upon the first passage of the stock between the dies, butby passing it through two or more times the stock will conform exactly to the working faces of the dies. In these operations, and especially on the second and succeeding passages of the stock between the dies, the device may be used as a hammerthat is to say, the hand-lever may be alternately, lifted and allowed to fall. It is of considerable weight, and hence when it falls it will impel the plunger forward with a quick hammer-like action, and this action is particularly effective in truing the work after the first action of the dies under a more steady pressure applied to the hand-lever.

It will be seen that by the use of dies having different features or patterns and by a proper skilful manipulation of the work a large variety of patterns may be produced. It is not necessary to herein Set these out in detail, because they are matters incident to the skill of the designer, die-sinker, and operator of the press.

For the purpose of gaging and accurately centering the work I use a gage su pported by an arm K, projecting laterally from the baseplate A. Preferably it comprises a vertical part L, surmounted by an eye l, a rod M, slidably mounted in said eye and adapted to be held to its adjustment therein by a thumbscrew m, a collar N, slidably mounted upon the rod M and adapted to be held to its adjustment thereon by a thumb-screw n, a rod O, carried by said collar and occupying a position at right angles to the rod M, and a slide P, having a V-shaped notch, slidably mounted uponA the rod O and adapted to be held to its adjustment thereon by a thumb -screw p. The partL has a reduced portion Z', which passes through the arm K and is threaded for the reception of a thu mb-nut L', which when tightened holds the part in position. This enables the guide to be swung into or out of operative position. It also enables either the end of the rod M or the adjustable slide P on rod O to be used for gaging purposes. The purpose of the V-shaped notch in the slide P is to receive the end of the strip and determine its position when 4the slide P is used for gaging purposes.

I am of course aware that presses having various devices for operating the plunger have heretofore been used, and I am also aware that presses having removable and interchangeable rdies have been used, and I do not claim any of these things, broadly, yas my invention. I believe, however, that I am the first to construct a hand-press with a horizontal reciprocable plunger, a suitable guide fory said plunger, a vertically-movable hand-level', and a link connecting the shorter arm of the hand-lever with a plunger,said link and shorter arm of the hand-lever being of such length that they have a toggle-action. I believe also that I am the rst to make a press with a horizontally-reciprocable plunger having at its free or outer end features adapted to have slip engagement with a removable die and a post having features adapted to have similar engagement with the companion die, so that the dies may be putin place 0r removed by operations requiring only an instant of time and without the use of tools and when put in place will remain there without being secured by set-screws or the like. More particularly, I believe myself to be the iirst to construct a press with a horizontally-reciprocable plunger having at its end opposed vertical shoulders (such as those provided by a vertical dovetail groove) adapted to engage complementary shoulders on a removable die, so that the die may be slipped int-o place and when in place will be held there solely by the shoulders aforesaid and gravity.

Simplicity,durability, and efficiency are the things aimed at, and While admitting it to be old,asa broad proposition,to construct a handpress of a lever-actuated plunger and removable dies, still I believe myself to be the first to construct a press as above described.-

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A hand-press having in combination a horizontally-disposed reciprocable plunger, a base-plate upon which said plunger is mounted to slide, integral ianges rising from the base-plate and having parallel faces engaging the sides of theplunger for guiding it, cross-plates secured to said flanges and engaging the top side of the plunger, a handlever, lugs integral with the base-plate for supporting the fulcrum of the lever, a toggle- IOO IIO

link jointed at one end of the short arm of the lever and at the other end to the plunger, the other end of said plunger being provided with a vertical dovetail groove, a die 5 having a vertical dovetail rib removably seated in said groove, a eoperating die having a vertical dovetail rib, and a post rising from the base and having a vertical dovetail groove occupied by the rib last aforesaid, substantiallyas described.

2. A hand-press having a horizontally-dis-Y 3. A hand-press having a base, coperating dies, means for operating said dies, and a gage, said gage havingahorizontal eye, means supporting said eye and permitting it to be adjusted about a vertical axis, a rod adjustable in said eye, a second rod disposed at right angles to the rod first aforesaid and an eye carried by the second rod and fitting adj ustably on the first rod, substantially as described.

4. A hand-press having a base, eoperatin g dies, means for operating the dies, and a gage,

said gage having a pair of rods, a slide adjustably mounted upon one of the rods, an eye in which the other of said rods is adjustable endwise, means for permitting the adjustment of said eye about a vertical axis, and means adjustably securing said rods together, substantially as described.

VJULIUS F. HELMOLD.

Witnessesi HENRY LORCH, GEO. MEssoRsMrrH, J r. 

